The Ultimate Power of Forgiveness!
Our lives are full of relationships from the moment we are born. And in those imperfect relationships there are always times when, for one reason or another, we are harmed—sometimes purposefully, and other times simply because someone did not have the tools to deal with their own lives and energies. We harm ourselves on a regular basis with addiction, fear, anger, jealously, insecurity and a host of other mental doubts and behaviors. We are quite creative when it comes to ways to “act” or “react” when dealing with other human beings.
So we are these fragile vessels, filled up to the brim with whatever we claim as our experiences, behaviors, histories and relationships. Are you full of things that haunt you or bring you to a place of depression or sadness? Do you get lost in the anger at another’s actions towards you? Do you let fear of things that happened in the past keep you outside the dance of life?
I have a jar by my bed. It is called “The Universe,” and some folks like to call them “God Jars.” I journal every night just before sleep, sometimes for only five or ten minutes, just to mark the end of that’s day’s journey. I write five things that happened that day that I am grateful for, and then I take an inventory of my day: Did anything happen that I felt wronged by? Did I do anything that possibly could have harmed another (in thought or deed)? It’s not about right or wrong, and it’s not about fault, it’s about an honest look at the last 24 hours that I have lived and a “cleaning house” so I can let go and release the day in order to start the next one clear and ready.
If there is some aspect of my day that had me feeling irritated or bothered, I write it down. I do the same for anything that I may have done that could have been seen or felt as a negative by another. Now I decide, “Do I need to DO something about this tomorrow?” If I do, I circle it in the journal and let it go until the morning when in my morning meditation I will decide what action to take. That is now “tomorrow’s work” and I am done with it for now.
If it is something that I should just let go of, or if there is no action which would correct it, then it’s time to “let it go” and I write it on a separate sheet of paper and fold it up small and ask the Universe to please take it from me, and place it in the jar. Once every three or four months, I take the jar and shred all the pieces up. I don’t look at them because they are not mine. In this way I keep a clear mind and an open heart without the clutter of old angers or harms rotting in the back corners of my mind. It brings a powerful ability to be clear and in the moment. There is so much more room for happiness and joy in the day-to-day life, without a lot of negative history to tote around everywhere!
